Rural mail-box



' PATBNTBD JAN. 26, 1904.

C. F. KELLER.

RURALMAIL BOX.

APPLIOATION FILED MAB. 1. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES CHARLES F. KELLER, OF CHICAGO,

Patented January 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO (irEORGrE L.

LAVERY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RURAL MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 750,547, dated. January 26, 1904.

Application filed March 1, 1902- To (1.7] whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. KELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, (assignor to GEORGE L. LAVERY, of the city of Chicago,-in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,) have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rural Mail-Boxes, whereof the following is a specification.

.My invention relates to improvements in the class of mail-boxes used more particularly to receive the mail distributed in the houseto-h'ouse mail-service in rural and suburban districts; and the objects of my improvement are to provide a practically weatherproof construction, to provide a receptacle of peculiarly-convenient form to receive and contain the mail placed in it, to provide an effective signal device for indicating whether or not the box is empty, and to accomplish such other and further superiorities in construction and operation as may obtain in the devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In. the accompanying drawings, forming-a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a per spective of the mail-box attached to a support and with the signal-hasp down to indicate that there is mail in the box. Fig. 2 is aperspective of part of the device as shown in Fig. 1, but with the signal-hasp up to indicate that thebox is empty. Fig. 3 isa section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a front View of the box open and with portions broken away to show inside construction, in-

cluding the corrugated false bottom of the hinged receptacle.

Like reference-numerals indicate like parts in all the figures.

10 is a weatherproof hood part, preferably constructed with anv inclined top 11 and secured to a support by a fastening, as at 12, that cannot be detached without having access to the interior of the box.

13 is a receptacle hinged to the hood part 10 at 14 14 and adapted to close up into the said hood and also to be protected by the said hood when open. The bottom Walls 15 16 of this hinged receptacle have suflicientinclination to cause them to drain to the drain-aper- Serial No- 96,320. (No model.)

tures 17 17 along the lowest line of the said receptacle in the eventol': any moisture entering the box during driving rain or snow storms or otherwise. A false bottom, preferably corrugated, as at 18, is provided for the hinged receptacle 13 to keep the mail as much as possible out of contact with any accumulated moisture and also to facilitate gathering the mail-matter into the hand in emptying the box. The peculiar shape of the hinged receptacle 13 and the manner of its attachment to the hood 10 cause it to hang substantially level and to retain the contained mail-matter when the hasp is unfastened and the receptacle has gravitated to its lowest or open position. The inner rear wall 19 of the receptacle 13 is peculiarly adapted to be used as an effective advertising-space suddenly confronting the user of the box each time the receptacle is unfastened.

A suitable hasp 20 and catch 21, the latter having a notch 22, serve to hold the box closed and, if necessary, allow a suitable lock to be used to secure it. An additional hasp 23, preferably painted red on its upper or inner side 24, constitutes a signal device that may be either left hanging down with its red side exposed to view or else raised and caught in position over the other hasp. Such a signal at once indicates to the owner of the box whether or not mail has been delivered into the box and indicates to the post carrier Whether or not mail is to be collected from the box.

In the foregoing specification my invention is described as embodied in certain particular and preferable forms of construction; but I 'do not limit myself to such special forms.

Having thus set forth my invention, 1 now clai1n- 1. In a rural mail-box, in combination, a weatherproof hood part, pivots adjacent to the inside of the rear wall of said hood and above the base thereof, a receptacle hinged by said pivots and adapted to gravitate to a limited open position within the lower front edge of said hood and having its front higher than its bottom when in said open position, and a hasp and catch adapted to secure said adapted to drop to its display position or be locked up with and over the aforesaid other hasp to indicate whether or not the box is empty, substantially as specified.

4:. A mail-box having a body and lid, a signal, means for locking the box in a closed position, said means serving to lock the signal by engagement therewith in either folded or extended position.

CHARLES F. KELLER. Witnesses:

GEO. L. LAVERY,

HENRY LOVE CLARKE. 

